Here we go, the second last chapter for this story. I'm going to miss it but it's been a fun ride. Enjoy this second last chapter and for old times sake please send me a review or two. ;)
Their last day in Italy ended as quick as it started. They were out on the patio having dinner with Antonio and Bella laughing about many of the things that had happened on the trip.
"I'm never going to forget this trip." Elena said after going down memory lane with the older couple for the past several minutes.
"I'm so glad we met you Elena. We've never seen that husband of yours as happy as he is right now." Bella told her.
"He makes me that happy too." Elena told them.
"Do you remember all the times you came out and cursed him to me. You were always so mad at him for something and I always told you to wait it out. That your relationship would improve." Bella asked.
"I do. You were right. I should learn to listen to you more." Elena said.
"I'm really going to miss you when you leave. You're such a ray of sunshine." Bella told Elena.
"Well we can always email or Skype." Elena told her.
"We don't have a computer in our house." Bella told her frowning.
"Use the one in our house. It's upstairs in the study." Elena told her.
"You guys wouldn't mind?" Bella asked hopefully.
"Of course not. You take care of the house for us, so you may as well enjoy what it offers as well." Elena told her and Damon echoed her sentiment. He just wasn't comfortable expressing his gratitude to people. He figured he'd let Elena do it,
she was much better at it than he was.
"That's very kind of you." Bella told her smiling brightly.
"You deserve it for all that you've done for us." Elena told her.
"I didn't do anything. It was all you." Bella assured her.
"We wouldn't have gotten here without you. You can deny it all you want, but it's true." Elena said.
"I don't believe you but if that's what you believe then that's all that matters." Bella told her ending the conversation.
"It's what I believe for sure." Elena said.
"Well is everyone done eating, I will clear the plates." Bella said standing up.
"Oh you don't have to worry about that. You cooked, Damon and I will clean." Elena said getting up before Bella could.
"Oh no, you shouldn't have to clean on your last night here." Bella insisted.
"It'll take Damon and I like five minutes to do everything. You don't have to do anything. You made such a lovely dinner."
Elena said.
"I feel like we should at least help. Allow me to clear the table for you." Bella insisted.
"Well, alright. Damon and I will go start on the kitchen." Elena said getting up and walking towards the house.
"We need to do something nice for them." Elena decided as they walked.
"Yes we do. Any ideas?" Damon asked curiously.
"Not yet. We should think of something quick though." Elena said as she cleared away the pots from the stove. Damon ran some water in the sink and waited for Elena to bring over the pots.
They washed the dishes side by side both pondering what they could do for them.
"I got it!" Elena exclaimed.
"What?" Damon asked taken aback at her outburst.
"I think we should get a hold of their son and get them all to come out here to take care of the house and the roses. Then we
can take Bella and Antonio back to Mystic Falls with us tomorrow. You could compel them some tickets to Richmond." Elena suggested.
"That's actually a brilliant idea. You get a hold of Alonzo and Maria and I'll get the plane tickets. We won't give them a chance to say no." Damon said as they finished off the dishes at vampire speed.
"Alright, how am I supposed to get their number?" Elena asked curiously. She had no idea how to get past them to get a number that was most likely in their house.
"I'll distract them. They're still on the patio finishing their wine anyways." Damon said walking back outside as Elena rushed out the front door and to the guest house. Once she was inside the guest house it took no time to find the number.
She left everything exactly as she found it and rushed back to the house while Damon was talking with them outside.
"We should really get home. It's been a long night." Bella said yawning.
"Alright. Have a good night. We'll talk to you before we leave in the morning." Damon told them as he walked back into the house having seen Elena run back to the house. When he walked in, she was on the phone with Alonzo.
"Great thank you Alonzo. I look forward to seeing you again so soon." Elena said hanging up the phone.
"Are they in?" Damon asked.
"They're in. Now you go get the tickets." Elena said pushing him towards the computer. Damon laughed and walked upstairs to the computer room with Elena following him. It was easy because there were still tickets available for their flight. Once they were booked, they went to their room and undressed for bed, deciding to get to bed early.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning Damon and Elena zipped up their suitcases when they heard a car pull into the driveway.
"They're here." Damon said as they left the room and walked outside with their bags.
"I don't want to leave." Elena sighed as she looked at the house.
"We'll come back soon." Damon promised her.
"I hope so." Elena said as Bella and Antonio came outside surprised to see their family.
"What are you doing here?" Bella asked as she hugged Alonzo and Maria, along with Lucia and Franco.
"You'll have to ask Mrs. Salvatore about that mama." Alonzo said pointing to Elena.
"You got them to come here?" Bella asked surprised.
"Yes but they're not here to see you. I should have told you this earlier, and it's not right to spring something like this on you so soon. But we need you to pack enough clothes for about two weeks." Elena told them.
"What? Why?" Bella asked confused. Antonio stood behind her with the same expression of confusion on his face but not voicing his.
"You and Antonio are booked on a plane to Richmond Virginia today with Damon and I. We're taking you home with us if you want to come. We arranged for Alonzo and his family to come here and take care of the house while you were gone." Elena told her.
" A vacation. We haven't had a vacation in so long." Bella breathed surprised.
"Do you want to come home with us?" Elena asked hopefully.
"Absolutely. We would love that. You must let us pay you back for the tickets.' Bella said.
"No, it's our treat to you for being so wonderful." Elena told her.
"Thank you. Thank you so much." Bella thanked her and Damon.
"But you better hurry. We need to leave shortly." Elena told her.
"I will drive you to the airport." Alonzo volunteered.
"Thank you." Elena said as Antonio and Bella rushed into their house.
A little while later the four of them plus Alonzo were on their way to the airport.
"I have never flown anywhere before." Bella stated simply.
"It'll be easy." Elena assured her. When they got to the airport Damon compelled their way through security, wanting to make it an easy flight for them.
"Next time you go through you'll have to deal with all of this crap, but with me you wouldn't have to." Damon told her.
"Ah right, I understand." Bella said as they got to the waiting room for their flight. She sat in her chair tearing a napkin up into tiny little pieces, obviously trying to keep herself occupied.
"Are you okay?" Elena asked Bella.
"I've never flown before. I'm not comfortable being that high in the sky. What if something goes wrong? What if the plane comes down?" She asked her eyes going wider every option she came up with.
"You're with Damon and I, if something happens which is unlikely you will survive because you have us." Elena told her.
"How will your status of being undead help us stay alive?" She asked fearfully.
"We can protect you. We can make it so you survive. Whether it involved vampire blood to heal your wounds or making sure we hit the ground first and you land on top of us. Either way you would live." She told them.
"But wouldn't you guys die?" She asked.
"No, a fall can't kill us. It can hurt and it would take a little longer than usual to heal our wounds. But it would not kill us." She assured the older woman.
"So what would you say the chances are of the plane going down?" Bella asked.
"Very unlikely. If there was a problem they would try to divert us to another airport. Nothing will go wrong." Elena promised her.
"How do you know?" She asked.
"Because I have been on a few planes and none of them have had any problems." Elena told her.
"I've been on many many planes in my day and none of them have ever went down." Damon interjected.
"Alright. Alright I'm fine. I'll be fine." She said breathing deeply.
"Bella darling it'll be fine. I will hold your hand the entire time." Antonio promised.
"Thank you my darling." She said trying to even out her breathing.
When their plane was called, her breathing got if possible even harder.
"Just calm down." Elena told her as they walked to the boarding line.
"Are we all sitting together?" She asked.
"Yes, you and Antonio are in the same row as Damon and I." Elena told her.
"Good. What can I do on the plane to stay calm?" She asked as they made their way through the line.
"Try going to sleep. I try to sleep most plane rides, whenever I can. Just don't worry about turbulence. It won't take the plane down." Elena told them as they made it past the lady checking their tickets. They walked through the tunnel and finally onto the plane to their first class seats. There really was no other way to travel than first class. Bella slipped her carry-on bag into the overhead compartment and sat down fastening her seat belt almost immediately.
"Just relax." Elena told her as she settled into the seat next to Damon who was by the window.
"I'll try." She sighed as the rest of the plane boarded.
"Antonio how are you feeling?" Elena asked the man with his head against the headrest of the plane seat.
"Better than my wife that's for sure." He told her smiling softly.
"Is it your first time on a plane too?" Elena asked.
"Yes but I believe that nothing will go wrong." He told her as he rested his head back ready to fall asleep.
"Exactly. Good way to think." Elena approved as she turned back to Bella.
"Are you okay?" She asked the somewhat calmer woman.
"Right now. When the plane starts moving it'll be a different story I'm sure." She said as the pilot came over the intercom.
The seat belt light came on and the engines started up.
"We're going to be taking off right away." Elena told her. Bella nodded and pressed her eyes shut tight. When the plane started moving she took in a deep breath.
"Oh Lord." She sighed when the plane started ascending.
"It'll be okay." Elena assured the woman who had her hand clasped tightly in her husbands. Once the plane finally levelled out Bella calmed down.
"Alright so is it going to be like this the rest of the way. I can probably handle this." She decided.
"It will be for the most part." Elena told her deciding to leave turbulence out of the conversation unless they hit it.
"Okay, I can handle this." She said as she leaned her head back against the headrest. She lightened her grasp on Antonio's hand and closed her eyes.
"I can't wait to see everyone at home." Elena whispered to Damon as Bella and Antonio slept beside them.
"Me neither. We by everyone I mean mostly Alaric. He's about the only one I might actually miss." Damon said.
"I'm sure you miss everyone else too, you just can't admit it." Elena teased.
"Not really." He said as the plane started to shake. "Oh joy turbulence."
"What is that?" Bella asked waking immediately and taking Antonio's hand again.
"Turbulence. We're just going through some rough air basically." Elena told her as the plane shook. The pilot came on the intercom again and told them what was going on and Bella started panicking again.
"We're going to die." She wailed as she held on tight.
"No we're not going to die. This is completely normal." Elena assured her.
"This cannot be normal. It's impossible." She fretted. After a few minutes the shaking stopped and the ride was smooth again.
"See it's over with." Elena assured her.
"Oh God. Where are we?" She asked curiously.
"Half way between the ocean." She told her honestly.
"Okay." She said her breathing still slightly shaky.
When the plane finally landed Bella breathed a sigh of relief. They got off the plane as quickly as possible and got their luggage.
"So is this Mystic Falls?" Bella asked.
"No this is Richmond. Mystic Falls doesn't have an airport." Elena told her as they left the airport to go find the Camaro.
"Oh my baby." Damon cheered when he saw his Camaro sitting unharmed in the parking lot.
"He loves that car." Elena told them as he rushed to the car and appraised every possible angle.
"Men and their toys. Antonio has a tractor at his family's farm that he plays with every time we go out there." Bella explained.
"Damon has many toys." Elena said grinning as they made it over to where he was standing by his car.
"I'm sure he does." Bella laughed as her and Antonio slid into the backseat of the Camaro.
"Let's go home baby." Damon whispered and Elena turned her head to smile at him.
"Alright, I can't wait to get home." She said.
"Not you, I was talking to my car. But I can't wait to get you home either." He told her.
"Nice to know that I rank below your car." She laughed.
"You don't. Not really, I just haven't seen my car in too long. I'll love you more than it tomorrow." He told her as he started up the engine and sped out of the parking lot. After a short while of driving the group of four passed the "welcome to Mystic Falls" sign.
"So this is Mystic Falls." Bella noted as they drove into town.
"Yep this is good old Mystic Falls." Damon answered as they drove just a little further until they came to the boarding house. "And this right here is home."
"Welcome home, Mr. Salvatore." Elena whispered smiling at her husband.
"Welcome home Mrs. Salvatore." He said back to her before shutting off the car and getting out.